You know that I could use somebody
by VN200
Summary: Brooke meets Julian for the first time. Brulian.
1. Chapter 1

NOTE:  
This is my first fanfic, never really written anything before this but just felt compelled to do so as I adore Brooke/Julian. Would like to hear some thoughts, and I appreciate feedback but to be honest, I'm not sure if I should continue the story.

Introduction: This pretty much is just a continuation of right after Brooke kicked some ass in 6x14 except she hasn't met Julian before this.

Chapter 1: The Bodyguard

He was leaning against the wall near the back entrance of Tric. It was way too stuffy in the club. He was used to making decisions under pressure but he just felt like he needed some time to think alone. The squealing of tires snapped him out of his reverie, a white Porshe had just swerved into the parking space across from him.

Intrigued, he watched as three sedans immediately pulled up next to her and photographers jumped out. A brunette emerged from the white Porshe looking very frazzled. He was used to scenes like this in LA, especially near his home in the valley. This was different though, he didn't know why he felt this strong wave of unfamiliar emotion wash over him - he felt protective of this girl, even though he could only see the half of her face that wasn't covered by her massive Chanel glasses. The papparazzi clamored over her, she looked uncomfortable with the attention as she tried to brush past them.

---  
Brooke had never felt frightened of the paparazzi before, they followed her when Victoria managed her and constantly tipped them off when she attended business dinners but they pretty much left her alone now that she had relocated back to Tree Hill. Recently, their interest was aroused when the whole thing with X and her foster daughter came up but she was coping. They had been following her since she left her house and had tailgated her all the way to tric, causing her to speed and, as she was pulling up at tric, almost caused her to lose control of her car when one overzealous pap he tried to take a photo of her driving - the flash startling her. She was at Tric for the casting for Lucas' new movie.

Out of nowhere, a greasy looking pap with a goatee latched onto her arm in an effort to get her to look at him. Panic washed over Brooke, but suddenly the pressure on her arm was gone.

'I think that's enough,' a strong, firm male voice said from beside her. Brooke looked up to see a tall, broad shouldered man with his hand hovering warningly over the paps arm. The man lightly placed his hand on the small of Brooke's back and guided her through the small swam of paparazzi. Brooke immediately felt safer. They entered the back entrance which led to the storage for drinks, it was dark in there. Brooke turned around and looked up at the man, whose face was half hidden by the shadows in the store room.

She took off her glasses and said in a shaky voice 'Thank you'

As soon as she had taken off her sunglasses he noticed at once that she wasn't just pretty, she was drop dead gorgeous. Althought it was dark in the storage room, he noticed her eyes were a certain shade of green. He shook his head lightly, it had been a long time since a girl had affected him this way.

'..It was so thoughtful of Lucas to provide me with a body guard but I assure you I don't really need one.' she continued in a firmer voice.

Julian just stared at her, for the first time in a while he was lost for words. Then her words registered - she thought he was the hired help. He tried to suppress his smile and just nodded.

She gave him a tentative smile, and strode out of the room. As he watched her leave, he knew.

He knew she was the girl for him.

---  
He made her feel safe. She knew he was hired to do so, but instinctively she had felt safer when the stranger had materialized next to her and guided her through the crowd. She had had a glimpse of his face in the store room and saw that he was handsome. Probably because his face was covered in shadows, she thought to herself dryly. She momentarily put the encounter aside and went to ladies room to freshen up.

She put on a bright smile and flounced into the casting room and sang out 'Lucas Scott! How's it going?' Lucas looked up from the table he was sitting at with Dixon, the director. His face broke into a wide smile, 'Hey brooke, glad you could make it, wanna stick around as we audition the nathans?'

'Of course', she replied.

She noticed that sitting on the other side of Lucas was an incredibly handsome, well built man who was grinning at her. She returned his grin with one of her own and winked, 'Make some space?'

Lucas quickly introduced them. 'Brooke, this is Julian, the producer'

Julian spoke up, 'We've met.' and he politely stood up to give her his seat.

Brooke's mouth dropped open as she recognized that firm, masculine voice. It was the bodyguard.


	2. Chapter 2

_To clarify, most of the Brooke/Julian scenes from the show have happened - I'll make references to them, although it may be a bit out of order. I wasn't familiar with the concept of what Alternate Universe was until Brucasequalslove pointed it out in the reviews. Apologies for the weak dialogue, I've got that to improve on (among other things heh). This chapter is focuses on developing their relationship and the Sam, Brooke, Julian dynamic. It's a bit of cheesy chapter, I must admit. To be honest, I know I'm not much of a writer. Not even sure how to incorporate other Tree Hill characters into the story. Thanks for the reviews left on the previous chap!_

_The song 'Crack the Shutters' by Snow Patrol is quoted a lot in this chapter because I felt the song really fit._

_

* * *

_

**Chapter 2: 'Its been minutes, Its been days, Its been all I will remember.'**

'Broo-ooke, Julian's here,' Sam called.

Five weeks. It had been five blissful weeks since they had started dating and working together.

Brooke hurriedly put the finishing touches to her make-up. She stopped for a minute to look at herself at the full length mirror in her room. She was wearing a casual white sun dress, one of her own creations. She had stitched the top half to hug the curves of her upper body, which tapered down into a floaty white skirt that grazed mid-thigh. She slipped her feet into the latest Tory Burch sandals and grabbed her Chanel purse on the way out. It was one of their days off and they were going on an afternoon date, she felt genuine excitement to to see him again even though they'd spent most of the previous night together.

Although she was initially worried about introducing him to Sam, Sam seemed to really like Julian. They had natural, playful banter. Sam admired the fact the he was a producer and he had won her over by his willingness to read her stories and genuine encouragement to keep writing. Not to mention, they both had the same dry humour and a somewhat michievious demeanor.

She entered the kitchen to find Julian and Sam poring over something.

'Hey, Gorgeous,' Julian said, getting up to kiss her on the cheek.

Brooke was about to reply when she realized what Julian and Sam had been poring over. Her high school yearbook! 'Where did you get that? I thought I put that away' she demanded with a raised eyebrow.

'Uhrmm... Julian said you were the hottest cheerleader in Tree Hill!' she blurted out, pointing at a picture of Brooke and Rachel with their arms around each other in an effort to distract Brooke.

'Well, I already knew that..' Brooke said, somewhat mollified.

'We were just laughing over the Brooke Davis' Quotes page - gorgeous, sexy..with a sense of humour to boot.' he leaned in to kiss her on the lips. Brooke giggled, fully appeased.

Sam groaned in mock disgust, 'Yugh, i'd like to keep my breakfast down, thanks'. She got up to leave. She had to babysit Jamie for the afternoon.

'Later Samson,' Julian called out.

'Bye Sam, not just coffee for lunch this time, ok?' Brooke added.

'Alright alright. Later!' she replied with exaggerated annoyance. With her back to them, she let out a tiny smile. She liked seeing them happy.

---

They were on the boardwalk at the beach, taking a stroll after having lunch at the crab shack. After hearing that Brooke once worked there as a crab, Julian had insisted they check the place out. The weather was perfect for a day outdoors.

'42 times 9'

'378,' he replied confidently.

She looked at him suspiciously but his face was completely straight, 'Okay, I'll take your word for it, I don't even know if that's right'

Julian gave a shout of laughter. 'neither do I,' he admitted. Brooke had been teasingly testing his math skills for the past fifteen minutes.

Brooke poked him in the ribs but let out a tiny giggle. 'I still can't believe you were a mathlete'

Julian just grinned at her and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. 'I love being able to do that,' he confessed softly in her ear, wrapping his arms around her waist. She shivered as she felt his warm breath on her ear. She smiled shyly back at him, 'I love it when you do.'

---  
It was a busy day on the boardwalk - a large crowd was forming around the band performing there. They were having a free outdoor performance in order to get people to donate money towards the restoration of THe Hall. THe Hall was one of the older venues in Tree Hill, it held a lot of concerts and small plays but recently it was getting dilapidated due to lack of interest and mismanagement so rather than refurbishing it, the new mayor of Tree Hill was thinking of shutting it down.

'We played our first gig in THe Hall, we'd love for it to stay open so please open your hearts to our cause,' the frontman reiterated. 'The next song we're going to play is 'She moves in her own way'. Its a cover of a song by The Kooks. We'd love for some crowd participation, I want everyone moving for this next song. We'll be watching for the girl with the best moves.' He winked at the crowd and launched into the song.

They crowd started swaying along. Julian put his arm around Brooke, content to just drink in the moment.

'The girl in the white dress, come up here and take your bow, you definitely move in your own way' the frontman announced when the song eneded, looking directly at Brooke. Brooke knew he was just teasing as she hadn't really been dancing. He was just putting on a show for the audience, and what better way than to get a pretty girl on the stage. She decided to oblige anyway.

Julian watched as Brooke bounced onstage, took a bow and blew him a kiss from the make-shift stage. He laughed, thinking she looked adorable. She fascinated him - he was very attracted to her physical appearance but they could also talk for hours on her couch. He related to her. They even shared a similar passion and drive when it came to their respective jobs.

'Dude, that is the cheesiest grin I have ever seen' Startled, he looked down to find Sam eyeing him disdainfully.

'Sam, what are you doing here?'

'Never mind me, you are _so_ in looooove' she said in a sing song voice.

Strangely, he felt a hot flush creep up his neck. Sam cried gleefully, 'You're blushing!'

'I don't blush,' Julian said indignantly.

'Do too'

'Am not'

'Are too.'

'Sam! What are you doing here? Is something wrong?' Brooke's worried voice interrupted thier argument.

'No, no, don't worry. I was on my way back from Haley's and was so amped I thought I'd skate on the boardwalk for a bit. Got drawn towards the commotion over here,' Sam explained.

'Amped?' Brooke looked questioningly at her.

Sam hesitated.

'Hm.. yeah, it's not official yet.. but Haley let slip that the editor at Tree Hill Daily saw my piece... and they want to print it. I mean, it's no big de-'

Brooke let out a loud squeal, interrupting her. She engulfed sam in a massive hug. 'Honey, that's great! I'm so proud of you.'

Julian reached over to ruffle Sam's hair, 'Great job, kiddo'

Sam blushed, 'Whatevever,' she mumbled, trying not to look so pleased but a wide smile was breaking out over her face. 'Pizza tonight then?'

Brooke nodded enthusiastically, 'totally, whatever you like'

'Awesome! and Julian none of that diet pepsi shiz! laterr,' she called over her shoulder.

She's a good kid, Julian thought to himself, watching her as she skated away. Brooke, standing beside him, was thinking the exact same thing.

---

Half an hour later, Brooke let out a contented sigh as she was sitting on a bench on the quiet side of the boardwalk. Brooke snuck a sidelong glance at the handsome profile sitting beside her. Her hand was wrapped firmly in his. She shifted to rest her head on his shoulder. It felt so natural, so had been sitting for fifteen minutes in comfortable silence, watching the passerbys walk, run and rollerblade by.

'I could sit for hours finding new ways to be awed each minute,' he said softly. She looked up at Julian and saw that he was staring at her, letting her know that he was referring to her. The intensity of his gaze combined with the sincere delivery of the comment made her breath catch in her throat. She tilted her face upward. He leaned in to kiss her. All she could hear was her heartbeat in her ears, all she could feel was him. She felt the world fade away as the kiss deepened.

Minutes later, an insistent cough near her ear brought her out of her daze. An elderly woman with her young grand-daughter was glaring at them. The girl was watching them with a puzzled look. Brooke looked down and realized that she was on Julian's lap and that his hands were still tangled in her hair. She gave a sheepish grin and moved off him. The woman stalked off, dragging the little girl with her.

She looked at Julian, whose shoulders were shaking with mirth as he took in her embarassment. Laughter escaped her as she realized the humour of the situation - they'd been reprimanded like a couple of randy teenagers engaging in PDA, which was the way they'd been acting. Looking in his deep brown eyes, now crinkled with laughter, it hit her - she was happy. Really happy.


	3. Chapter 3

Edit: Hi! I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story so far & from the beginning please keep doing so as I appreciate any constructive criticism and suggestions! :)

* * *

**Six Months Later**

Brooke hummed as she was picking out some new lingerie at Agent Provocateur. Julian had been in L.A. for the past two weeks and it felt like ages since she last saw him. They'd been dating for almost seven months and he'd been commuting between L.A. and Tree Hill for work. Lucas's movie was in post-production and he was just tying up some lose ends. She knew they had to make decisions soon about what would happen next in thier relationship as Julian's career was in L.A. Brooke wanted to surprise him tonight when he came back with a romantic evening in. Sam was staying over at Haley's house since she was babysitting till 1.A.M which was when Haleys flight was due back from Tric. Chris Keller was back in Tree Hill and after much coercing he had persuaded her to do a special one night show at Tric as a tribute to when they used to tour together.

'Ooh! Nice,' Brooke thought to herself as she saw a white corset. Maybe she should start designing lingerie as well. Lately, Brooke had thrown herself into her work while Julian was away. After finishing designing the costumes for the movie, she remembered why she loved designing so much and had become really inspired. As a result, her new line was just about ready for release and to top things off, with all the publicity from the movie, she had been offered the chance to produce her own fragrance. She giggled, maybe she and Julian could do a his and hers. She silently admonished herself for thinking that. Things had been going well for them, they were dating but they hadn't really discussed any long term plans. she loved him and she knew he loved her, but were they ready to take things to the next level? Brooke knew. Brooke hadn't fallen for someone this hard since Lucas - and even then thier relationship had been filled with uncertainty at times. Julian made her feel safe and loved but it was more than that - he challenged her. Julian was sexy, smart and successful - just like her.

On the drive home, she wondered whether she was ready to settle down. She knew she wanted a baby but she and Julian hadn't spoken about trying for one as they were only dating at the moment. Deep down though, she knew she was in love with Julian and if he was ready to take their relationship to the next level, so was she.

She got home and started cooking and preparing the house for Julian's arrival.

**

* * *

**Los Angeles

Julian stepped out of the beautiful house. It had five bedrooms, three bathrooms, a four car-garage and pool. It cost him a cool 2 million but it was worth it. The house was perfect. He just had to transform the last room into a studio for Brooke for when she wanted to work from home. He was taking a risk. He found it hard to believe he was now a homeowner, all he had to do was convince the gorgeous brunette to share it with him. This was it, he thought. I just need her to say yes. He was nervous. He was normally pretty laid back about most things, and once he'd hit college and found his stride, he didnt have a problem getting girls. That was the thing though - Brooke wasn't any girl, Brooke was the girl. The girl in the book.

He had it all planned out. She could work in L.A., open up a new line there. There was a great private school with an amazing creative writing program for Sam. Sam - he had such a good bond with her already. He had come back to L.A. two weeks ago and had missed Brooke and Sam a lot within the first week. When he was back in L.A., it wasn't like before when he was single, without the two girls he felt there was something missing. He knew that he wanted them to move out there with him and had set about finding a way to make it happen. Luckily, one of his mothers friends was a prominent realtor in los angeles who had a new house just coming on the market. It was like things were clicking into place.

'Julian, what do you think?' Shirley asked. Shirley was 50 but looked about 35. Her face was pulled tight and platinum blond hair was spilling down her back. She was wearing tight white jeans with a floaty D&G kaftan.

'It's perfect,' Julian grinned.

'So who's the girl?' she asked knowingly.

Julian laughed.

'Shirley, she's amazing, I think she's the one' Julian admitted.

Shirley let out of a laugh, 'with a house like this, how could she resist?'

'Thanks for everything, I really appreciate your help especially on such short notice,' he said sincerely.

'No problem,' she reached out her arms to hug him.

While he hugged her, he felt a sharp pinch on his bottom. He looked up shocked, Shirley just gave him a sly wink. He laughed, the cheeky old fox, knowing she was just joking around.

Unbeknownst to them, paparazzi was staked out behind the bush next to them, eating up the entire scene.

* * *

**Later that night.**

Julian finished packing. Lastly, he picked up the Harry Winston deep blue velvet box from the table and was shoving it in his pocket when he got a call from an auction house. The beautiful antique dress-form that was rumoured to have been used by Coco Chanel herself was going on auction that night. It would be the perfect addition to Brooke's office in the new house.

'Can't I put in a phone bid?' Julian asked, he was impatient to get back to Tree Hill. He was going to propose to Brooke but he still had to figure out how.

'I'm sorry, Mr. Baker, maybe you can find a replacement bidder?'

Julian thought about sending someone in his place but he just remembered that his assistant took off for Miami that afternoon. If he went to the auction, he could still get to Tree Hill by about 1A.M. 'All right, I'll be there, thanks' he said finally. He hated delaying his trip but Brooke would really love that dress form. He quickly called Brooke to let her know that he would be late. She was not going to be pleased.

'Juuliaan, I made dinner!'

'I'm sorry, something came up with the promotional posters'

Brooke sighed.

He gave a low chuckle, 'I'm really sorry babe, I'll make it up to you when I get back.'

'You better, I actually roasted something' Brooke warned.

'Brooke?'

'Yeah?'

'I love you'

Brooke felt a smile spread across her face involuntarily. 'I love you too,' she said grudgingly, still thinking of the effort she put into the roast.

* * *

Brooke looked at the phone in exasperation. She knew it couldnt be helped. Oh well, it would give her more time to get herself ready. She was feeling more emotional lately.

A few hours later she looked at the clock, it was still only eleven. She was getting bored, she clicked on the tv and flipped to E! to check out the fashion police.

'Julian Baker: Cougar romance?' the smug presenter asked. 'More after the break'

Brooke sat up, 'Wait, what?'

'Julian Baker was spotted today coming out from this gorgeous house with Shelly Gibson, former model' In the background they showed several shots of Julian laughing with an older blond lady. They'd managed to capture the shot of Shelly pinching Julian's butt. Brooke barely heard the presenter as she gaped at the pictures.

Brooke knew there had to be an explanation but she couldnt help feeling jealousy course through her. She knew she'd been feeling more emotional lately but after watching that, she wanted to call Julian then she remembered he was probably on board the plane by now. She got up and paced, she couldn't wait for him to get back.

Feeling annoyed and confused, she decided to get dressed, that would help her take her mind off things._ Hmpf, if he even deserves me getting dressed up. He has a lot of explaining to do, cavorting around with some botoxed ho_. She still wanted to look as hot as possible when he got back so he knew what he had been missing these past two weeks.

In her closet, she was reaching up to the top shelf to get the white pair of stilettos that would go perfectly with her new corset. She couldn't quite reach them and ended up pushing them further back onto the shelf. She pulled up an old footstool she'd been meaning to throw out and started stretching towards the pair of shoes. Suddenly, the shoes seemed further, things were getting swirly and she felt a little bit breathless. She lost her balance and fell. As Brooke was lying on the floor she felt warm blood pooling around her but she wasn't sure where it was from. Brooke fought to remain conscious but things suddenly turned black.

* * *

'Brooke?' Julian called.

He stopped by the kitched and saw the wine and table laid out nicely. He grinned.

'Brooke?' he called again, wandering into the bedroom in anticipation. He saw the closet doors open, 'Babe, I've misse-'

'Wha- BROOKE,' he cried, looking at the figure slumped in the closet. His heart jumped to his throat, he felt rising panic as he saw the blood around her thighs. He cradled Brooke's head in his hands and let up a hugh sigh of relief when he saw her chest moving up and down. He whipped out his cell to call 911. He quickly checked her body for injuries but realized the blood was coming from a gash in her thigh. He saw the offending piece of sharp steel poking out from the now turned over footstool and quickly pieced together that she had probably fallen off and cut herself but did she lose so much blood that she fainted? Why did she fall?

Whatever happened next was a total blur.

* * *

'Mr. Baker?' Dr Burke called.

'Yes,' Julian was tense.

'Looks like the cut in her leg looked worse than it actually is. She really shouldn't be climbing in her condition though'

'In her condition?' Julian asked, puzzled, a sharp frown creasing his brows.

'Oh don't worry, Mr. Baker, she and the baby are just fine, you can go in now to see her, she just got stitches'

'Baby?' he stared at the doctor blankly.

'She's two months along now, I take it you didn't know,'

Julian sat down, not quite being able to believe it.

---


End file.
